Mahomes, Hill lift Chiefs to victory
Dolphins can't hold early lead despite forcing turnovers
Tyreek Hill scored touchdowns on his first two touches, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 33-27 comeback win over the host Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.
Hill scored on a 32-yard end around and on a 44-yard reception as the Chiefs (12-1) clinched the AFC West championship for a fifth straight season.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had thrown just two interceptions in his first 52 quarters this season, was picked twice in Sunday's first 14 minutes.
However, Mahomes recovered to pass for 393 yards and two touchdowns (with a career-high-tying three interceptions). Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 136 yards and one touchdown.
Miami (8-5) was led by rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who passed for a career-high 316 yards and two touchdowns — both to tight end Mike Gesicki, who left the game in the fourth quarter due to a shoulder injury.
Tagovailoa was also intercepted for the first time in his pro career, snapping a streak of 153 passes without a pick. Tagovailoa was also sacked by Chris Jones for a safety.
The Dolphins defence, which leads the NFL with 25 takeaways, got four turnovers on Sunday. Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard got a one-handed pick, his Nfl-leading ninth interception of the season. He has at least one pick in five straight games.
Kansas City got off to a poor start in the first quarter. On the Chiefs' first possession, a Mahomes screen pass was tipped by Andrew Van Ginkel and picked by Byron Jones.
On KC'S second possession, Mahomes took a nine-yard loss after he fumbled a shotgun snap and then a 30-yard sack — the longest in the NFL since 1979 — to force a punt from the three-yard line on fourth-and-42.
Then, on KC'S third possession, an overthrown Mahomes pass was picked by Eric Rowe.
Despite all those errors, Miami's lead early in the second quarter was just 10-0 on Tagovailoa's seven-yard pass to Gesicki and Jason Sanders' 31-yard field goal.
Kansas City then stormed back to take a 14-10 halftime lead as Hill ran 32 yards for a score on his first touch of the game and Kelce caught a six-yard TD toss.
Among Miami's missed first-half opportunities: a dropped TD pass by Devante Parker on third down, forcing the Dolphins to settle for a field goal. In addition, Sanders missed from 45 yards on Miami's second possession.
Kansas City made the Dolphins pay, opening the third quarter with two long TDS in 62 seconds — both of them untouched. First, Hill scored on a 44-yard bomb. Mecole Hardman then added a 67yard punt return for a 28-10 lead.
After the safety, Miami cut the deficit to 30-24 on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns: Ge
sicki's 29-yard grab and Tagovailoa's one-yard run.
But Harrison Butker's 46-yard kick with 1:08 left iced the game.
BUCCANEERS REBOUND WITH WIN OVER VIKINGS
Taking advantage of a bye week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers emerged refreshed and improved their playoff prospects with a 26-14 victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings.
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady was 15 of 23 in the air for 196 yards and two touchdowns, including a momentum-changing 48-yard
touchdown pass in the first half to Scotty Miller. Antonio Brown had five catches for 49 yards for Tampa, while Ronald Jones II had 18 carries for 80 yards and a TD.
The Buccaneers (8-5) had lost three of four games before their bye but entered holding the No. 6 spot in the NFC'S playoff pecking order. The top seven teams in each conference advance to the playoffs.
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who entered as the second leading rusher in the NFL, had 102 yards on 22 carries, including his Nfl-leading 14th touchdown. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was 24
of 37 for 225 yards and a touchdown as Minnesota lost for the second time in seven games.
The Vikings (6-7) dropped out of playoff eligibility with the loss and the Arizona Cardinals' victory over the New York Giants.
The Buccaneers took control by reeling off 23 points from the middle of the second quarter through the first drive of the second half. The scoring outburst was capped by a two-yard TD pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski just under five minutes into the second half.
RIVERS, TAYLOR POWER COLTS PAST RAIDERS
Philip Rivers passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns and Jonathan Taylor rushed for a career-high 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead the visiting Indianapolis Colts to a 44-27 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
It was the 19th career victory against the Raiders for Rivers, who broke a tie with Hall of Famer John Elway for most career starts (29) against the franchise. Rivers, who completed 19 of 28 passes, also increased Raiders' opponent records for touchdown passes (49) and passing yards (7,347) as Indianapolis (9-4) moved up to the sixth seed in the AFC playoff race with its fifth road win in seven tries this season.